Fitness

The Leadership students in my classes exhibit better social skills and earn higher grades. I highly recommend Leadership classes for students of all ages.– Chief Master Todd Droege, International Protech Instructor, Owner of Droege's ATA Martial Arts

Everyone
in Songahm Taekwondo must publicly perform certain material and attend class
regularly to test for the next belt rank. Whether it’s an official graduation
ceremony or a Black Belt extravaganza, each school has its own unique approach
to make testing special for its students.

But once you get to Black Belt and above, the pressue mounts. There are very
specific rules in Songahm Taekwondo about what is and is not a successful
testing at that level.

And once you get to 4th Degree Black Belt and
above, there’s even more pressure—4th Degrees must test before Grand
Master and other Masters at a national event or at World

Championships, in front of
hundreds of people!

At this level, everyone knows their forms and can break boards
and spar, so it’s how you perform that counts. Details matter, and so
does your mental preparation. When everyone is performing at such a high level,
your ability to tame tension, visualize success, and stay positive sets you
apart, and it can make the difference between succeeding and having to try again
next time.

We talked with high-ranking
students and Masters who’ve been through high-rank testing. Here are their tips
for preparing for—and passing – upper-level belt tests. And the best part about
it: These tips are helpful for White Belts and color belts. Use these testing
tips all the way up the ranks!

The judges have an eye on your forms, weapons and sparring.
What they’re looking for:

Forms

Technique:
You need to do more than have the form
memorized—you need to have balance, rhythm and flow as well.

Power: Don’t just walk through the form—do it
like you mean it! “Does it look like you’re really fighting or just kind of
robotically doing the form?” asks Master Izel Rivera, a 7th Degree Black Belt
who tested last year. And Chief Master Marilyn Niblock, an 8th Degree
Black Belt who tested on stage during Opening Ceremonies two years ago, calls it
“attacking the form.”

Fluidity:
Your moves shouldn’t be jerky or choppy, and you
shouldn’t bounce up and down while doing your form. Think smooooth.

Weapon handling:
How you hold your weapon matters, as does
accuracy—not to mention all the key points of open-hand forms, from technique to
power.

The whole package:
Your form needs to be enjoyable to watch. Do you look
enthusiastic? Do you give off an air of confidence? Are you present
and engaged with the moment?

Sparring

Set-ups:
You need to be able to set up the technique you
want to score with.

Defense:
Can you counter strikes and kicks?

Offense:
Go after the points rather than just blocking
your opponent’s strikes.

Strategy:
It’s more than kicking and punching—you must show
the judges that you know how to think ahead to what your opponent might do, and
create a strategy to counter it.

Versatility:
This isn’t competition, so get more creative than
your go-to number one side kick. Show the judges all your moves. And it’s
important to make your opponent look good! He or she may be testing too, so go
back and forth to showcase each other’s talents.

At high-level belt tests, mental
preparation is just as important as physical preparation. Here are some
mind-over-matter ways to get into the zone, quash the pressure and pass that
test.

Visualize it. Master
Rivera visualizes herself doing her forms from start to finish. And her tactic
is backed by research: Studies have shown that when people visualize doing an
action, the part of the brain that’sin charge of performingthat action starts working.

Play it. To help get
used to the testing environment, some students
play the same music or background noisewhile practicing to mimic
the conditions of test day. If you practice with the same sounds all of
the time, the music and sound cues will put you right into that frame of mind,
no matter where you are.

Turn it around.
Instead of thinking about all the ways you could fail,
think aboutall the ways
you couldsucceed. “I try
to turn any thoughts that are negative into positive,” says Master Rivera. For
example, when you catch yourself thinking your form is not good enough, consider
it an opportunity to practice.

Say it. Positive
affirmations – when you repeat
self-esteem-boosting phrases – can help you get into a winning mindset.
Structure your positive talk in the present tense. For example, “I’m getting
better every day” or “I am strong, calm and confident.” Write your affirmation
down on an index card and look at it several times per day. You may also want to
post your affirmation where you’re sure to see it, like on the bathroom mirror
or your computer monitor.

“Omm” it out with Meditation. Meditating
isa powerful way to calm jitterynerves and get into a positivemindset. If you’ve never meditatedbefore, start now—it’s best tolearn it when you don’t need itso you’ll be ready when you
do. Here’s an
easy way to start: Sit in a comfortable position and empty your head of all your
thoughts, positive or negative. When you feel yourself listening and thinking
about outside sounds or thoughts,
imagine yourself listening to the listener (you).Research
shows that meditation helps calm you down and focus your energy.
Scientifically proven improvements include a lower level of stress hormones in
the body, lower fatigue, lower anxiety and a better ability to deal with
conflict and high-pressure situations.

1.Close your eyes and have
your partner hold up the board and get into position.

2.Open your eyes, find the
board, decide whether to use a hand or foot technique, and break the board -
all as fast as you can.The point is not to overthink, but to react.
At the test, you won't be able to tell the person holding the board to move it,
so this practice helps you learn to break without hesitation, no matter where
it is.

Grand Master In Ho Lee suggests practicing going through
the boards. Just as with your form, visualize yourself plowing through it. “Many
times students think about hitting the board, but you must practice the
follow-through. It is the key to any board break!”

When it
comes to acing a test, nothing is more important than practice. But there’s more
to it than simply going over your moves.

Practice in segments,
suggests Chief Master
Niblock.Do one small part over andover until you feel it’s yourbest, and then move on to thenext. This will keep you from
getting overwhelmed trying toperfect an entire form at once.

Go over the color belt forms
as warmup. “They’regood to practice your basics,”Master Rivera says. “Then
you’ve got your basics down,and now you can work onmore
complicated moves andfeel good about them.”

Videotape yourself
doing forms and breakingboards, and then watch thefilm to pinpoint where you can
improve. Sometimes it’s difficultto understand where you’reweak
when someone tells you,but it becomes clear when yousee it for
yourself on tape.

Practice using pads,
suggests Master Rivera. Have a partner hold the pads in the right positions for
you as you go over segments of the form to gain power and accuracy. When you can
hit targets while doing the forms, it helps the form make sense in both your
body and your mind.

Practice in different
directions. You
never knowwhich way you’ll be facingat your belt test, and manystudents—yup, even BlackBelts—trip up when they needto do a
form in a directiondifferent than they’re used to.

Practice with partners.
Buddy up with other
students,and ask your instructor tocritique your form. The morefeedback you get, the morechances you have to perfectyour
moves.

Practice as much as you can.
“Train with yourinstructor, train with yourseniors, do all the ‘grunt work’
that you have to do,” says ChiefMaster Niblock. “Go in there
prepared. Nerves? Yeah, you’llhave nerves. But if you train,
you’ll know you’re ready.”

Part of the requirements for high-rank testing is a
physical fitness test. It consists of five exercises lasting 60 seconds each,
with a 60- second rest between – push-ups, sit-ups, kicks, punch/kick combos and
punches – performed in that order on a heavy bag. A combined score of 300
repetitions is required to pass. And as if that wasn’t enough, you’ll need to be
fit enough to perform a strong form, break multiple boards, and spar like you
mean it. Here’s how to get fit fast:

Shore up your weaknesses. If there’s just
no wayyou’ll be able to do 60 push-upsor sit-ups in 60 seconds,
practicepounding out more thanenough combinations,kicks
orpunches tomake up forit so you getin your 300.

Build Your Endurance. Doing all those
exercises requiresa lot of stamina. To build yourability to do
lots of short, intensebursts of work, try interval training,
where you alternate shortbouts of running with a periodof
walking to recover. Overtime, you canincreasethe length
of theruns and decreasethe recovery time.Interval
trainingis more effectivethan long, steadycardio
sessions.

Do the Warrior X-Fit program. Grand Master
InHo Lee credits the program forgetting him in shape during his9th Degree testing and
Inauguration.By logging on to WarriorXFit.com you have fitnessat
your fingertips. In just 20minutes, you’ll be led throughsix
exercises designed to giveyou a full-body workout. It’s agreat
workout any time of day.

Boost your strength. Your punches and
kicks needto count, and the more musclepower you have, the
betterthey’ll be. Try resistance training,where you work withfree weights or machines togain strength.

Increase your power. Power makes the
differencebetween a lackluster form anda stellar one, and can
help yousmash through boards. (Checkthe Winter 2012 issue of
ATAWorld Magazine, where we havea whole article on
workouts tohelp you build power!)

Improve your flexibility. Want to kick
higher? In additionto muscle, you’ll needflexibility. To get
that, you needto stretch. Master Nomineeand owner of ATA Martial
Artsin West Chester, Penn., MarcJouan prepares for testings bydoing yoga and stretching reallywell before and after every
Taekwondo workout. Another tip: “A few days before, treatyourself to a
professional full bodysports massage,” he says.“Your body will
appreciate it,and you will be more relaxedand flexible.”

You’ve
spent months preparing for the big day – and now it’s here. Here’s how to get
the most out of those final hours before testing.

Get ready.
Prepare your uniform and
equipment the night before. That way, you don’t have to worry about ironing your
dobok and gathering your sparring gear when you’re already stressed out on test
day.

Keep it simple.
“I try to stay as regular to
my normal schedule as possible,” says Master Rivera. “I try not to change
anything that tells me, ‘Oh, this is different.’” So she gets up at the same
time and sticks to her regular routine. (Though she skips her morning workout to
conserve her energy.)

Meditate.
Take a few minutes to simply
sit and observe your thoughts, which will help calm your nerves and give you
focus. You can even repeat your positive affirmations and visualize your
success.

Get focused.
Chief Master Niblock likes to
use the last few minutes before the test to walk around the area, taking deep
breaths and thinking through her moves.
ATA